Apparently this is an unpopular opinion among feminists. If feminism is about equality for everyone, it needs to address that. As an example, LGBTQ+ was extended many times to cover everyone in the community, and that’s the right thing to do. There isn’t just L and everyone repeats “Oh! Lesbians are for rights for everyone, no need to update that”
I don’t know what the new name should be, but it should cover gender equality for everyone.
I completely agree: the name has been compromised. Haters have successfully turned it into something negative. Perhaps it will get the respect it’s due if it can leave some baggage behind.
I was one of many who fell for the propaganda about feminists being man haters and wanting superiority, and I’m sure some do. However most women I know who claim to be feminists are so in the egalitarian sense. They just want equal rights and opportunity. My own eye opening was when we had our first kid. At the time my company had no paternity leave. It was a group of feminists at work who raised a stink (unasked) to try to get that changed, that men also deserve some time off for the birth of their child
I don’t think it’s because of the name. The people against the movement won’t like it no matter what you call it. Like Suffragettes(back in the day,) Pride, LGBTQ+, Black Lives Matter, DEI, and hell, depending on your crowd, even “Equality” and “Empathy” are sneered at.
I think it’s a similar argument to “woke”. The original meaning was a good thing but the term has so much baggage now that people abandoned it
I disagree. “Woke” was always tongue-in-cheek and never represented specific goals.